Valentino Rossi led the championship for almost the entire season as he chased a tenth world title, but ultimately, the honours went to his Yamaha Motor Racing team-mate Jorge Lorenzo,[1] who took his third MotoGP title and a fifth world title overall.[2] Lorenzo started the season quietly with three finishes off the podium,[2] whereas Rossi took wins in Qatar and Argentina.[3][4] Thereafter, Lorenzo took four successive wins for the first time in his career to bring himself back into the championship race, before Rossi won at Assen.[5] Lorenzo did not win again until Brno, taking the championship lead on countback,[6] but ceded it back to Rossi, when he won at Silverstone.[7] Lorenzo crashed out at Misano,[2] while Rossi finished fifth– ending a 16-race streak of podium finishes– after both Yamaha riders were caught out by wet weather.[8] In the final five races, Rossi finished ahead of Lorenzo once, as Lorenzo continued to close the points gap; at a maximum of 23 after Misano, Lorenzo pulled it back to 7 going into Valencia.[9] At the final race, Lorenzo took his seventh win of the season,[1] while Rossi could only finish fourth– after a back-of-the-grid start– to give him the title by five points.[10] Rossi had lost the title under controversial circumstances, following a coming together on track with reigning champion Márquez amid accusations of unsportsmanlike conduct.[11]

Third place in the final riders' championship standings went to Márquez, who won five races during the season, but six retirements during the campaign stopped him from challenging the Yamaha pair in the championship run-in. The only other rider to win a race during the season was Márquez's Repsol Honda team-mate, Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa missed three races at the start of the season, after electing to undergo surgery to alleviate issues with arm-pump. Upon his return, he did not podium until Catalunya, and ultimately, took two wins in the closing four races at Motegi,[12] and Sepang.[13]

Season summary

Other championship standings

In the other championships, the eleven wins for Rossi and Lorenzo were enough for Yamaha to take the teams' title by over 200 points ahead of Repsol Honda,[14] and the manufacturers' title by 52 points ahead of Honda.[15] Amongst the class of rookies, Suzuki rider Maverick Viñales took the IRTA Cup, finishing in twelfth place overall,[16][17] while Héctor Barberá of Avintia Racing was the best-placed Open class rider, in fifteenth.[16][17]

Collisions between contenders

The 2015 season also saw several moments of controversy between the main championship contenders. In Argentina, Rossi chased Márquez down for the lead before the two riders collided on the penultimate lap.[4] Rossi stayed upright but Márquez was unable to rejoin; Rossi later spoke of Márquez as an "all or nothing" rider.[18] Rossi and Márquez again collided at Assen on the final lap; Rossi rejoined the circuit through the gravel and went on to win the race, while race direction deemed the incident as a racing incident.[5] At Misano, Rossi was given a penalty point on his licence, for impeding Lorenzo in qualifying.[19] Rossi accused Márquez of helping Lorenzo in his title aspirations at Phillip Island, in the pre-event press conference at Sepang, a claim that Márquez refuted.[20]

The most significant of the clashes came during the Sepang race; Rossi and Márquez collided for a third time in 2015 on the seventh lap of the race.[13] After a series of 18 overtakes and exchanges of positions between the two, Rossi made a move on Márquez at Turn 14, pushing Márquez to the outside of the circuit. The two riders made contact and Márquez fell from his bike. He remounted and returned to the pits but had to retire from the race. Rossi maintained the third place that the pair had been battling over until the end of the race.[13] After the race, race direction reviewed the incident and deemed Rossi at fault for the collision, and three penalty points were added to his licence.[21] With this, it meant that Rossi would have to start the final race in Valencia from the back of the grid. On the podium, Lorenzo made a gesture showing his disapproval at the move and deemed the penalty as "inadequate".[22] Rossi appealed the penalty to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but the penalty was ultimately upheld; Lorenzo submitted a statement towards the appeal and later apologised for his actions on the podium before the Valencia weekend.[22] Rossi voiced his regret at his move on Márquez,[23] while Márquez stood his ground on his riding style in Malaysia.[20] Following the fallout from Sepang, FIM president Vito Ippolito deemed the events– which included Márquez's family being insulted at their home by Italian television reporters[24]– as having a "damaging effect on the staging of our competitions and poisoned the atmosphere around the sport",[25] with Ippolito and Dorna Sports boss Carmelo Ezpeleta calling a private meeting– cancelling the pre-event press conference– for all riders and crew chiefs in Valencia.[23]

Calendar changes

The British Grand Prix had been scheduled to return to Donington Park for the first time since 2009, ahead of a planned move to the brand-new Circuit of Wales in 2016.[45] However, Donington Park pulled out of hosting the event on 10 February 2015, citing financial delays.[37] The following day, it was announced that Silverstone would host the British Grand Prix in 2015 and 2016.[38]

Teams and riders

As in 2014, the MotoGP class was divided into two categories: Factory and Open. Manufacturers who had not won a dry race since the start of the 2013 season or were new to the class could enter the Factory category with all the Open concessions.

Team changes

Aprilia made an official return to the championship entering two factory-supported bikes with Gresini Racing. The Italian team ended its long partnership with Honda, having raced their bikes since 1997.

Marc VDS Racing expanded its operations to enter a Honda bike in the MotoGP category, having taken on the Factory class bike previously run by Gresini.

Marco Melandri returned to MotoGP with Gresini Racing, the same team he competed with during his last appearance in the category in 2010. Before the German Grand Prix, Melandri left Aprilia, and was replaced by Michael Laverty.[55] Bradl replaced Laverty afterwards.

Hiroshi Aoyama moved from the Aspar Racing Team to become a test rider for HRC. Aoyama returned to the series on two occasions during the 2015 season, to replace injured riders.

In order to aid his recovery from injuries sustained at the Catalan Grand Prix, Karel Abraham stepped down from his AB Motoracing ride. He was replaced by Kousuke Akiyoshi in Japan, and Anthony West for the remainder of the season.[67][82]